Social Distancing, Weddings and Funerals

Published: April 3, 2020

Does it take losing something to make us see its real value?
Suddenly we find ourselves in a world where weddings and funerals may not
happen. Just a few weeks ago people might have questioned the need for these
kinds of gatherings. Now, we begin to feel what we have lost. Albeit a
temporary loss, something we must do for now, perhaps a takeaway is a clearer
understanding of how important our social rituals really are.

A wedding is much more than the party and the white dress.
It’s really about witnessing two people making a commitment. It’s the vows.
When two people look at each other, with love in their eyes, and vow to walk
through life together through good times and bad, in sickness and in health,
until death parts them. That is a wedding. That is important. A party can be
held to celebrate the union any time. It’s the vows that make it a wedding and
having family and friends witness those vows means something.

In the same way a funeral has a moment. A life can be
celebrated weeks or even months after a death. However, when a person close to
us dies the immediate response is numbness and disbelief. A funeral fills the
important need we have to come together and share. At the funeral we understand
the death is real and we do that in the comfort of community with family and
friends. Funerals help.

For now, our gatherings may be curtailed. We will do what
must be done to deal with a very real and very scary threat. Weddings may be
postponed, and we will comfort those who experience a loss as best we can.